


#4 - Flashlight

by angelsandbrowncoats



Series: Eurovision 2017 Fanfic Challenge [40]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Repairing Relationships, Running Away, Thranduil's A+ Parenting, could be seen as post canon everybody lives, however you want to look at it, i guess, or could be seen as throwing canon out the window
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 14:24:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11060856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsandbrowncoats/pseuds/angelsandbrowncoats
Summary: When their families refuse to accept them, Tauriel and Kili run away to Bree together.





	#4 - Flashlight

"Do you have _any_ idea what you're doing?"

"I don't care, brother! I refuse to let us be some teenage tragedy to be mocked or glorified for centuries to come. I won't let that happen, no matter the cost."

Fili wanted to throw something, "Look, Kili, I get it. You like her. But you met her three weeks ago! You can't just run off and leave behind your entire life like this. Think, damn you!"

Kili shook his head, "You don't understand. She's been thrown out by her foster father because of me. And you're wrong. I don't like her. I love her. I don't have another choice, no matter what you think, because anything else would be _wrong_."

"...Fine. Mahal guide and keep you both. I wish you the best of luck," Fili embraced his brother, knowing it would be futile to argue. Breaking personal morals was beyond breaking the law in the eyes of the House of Durin. That was how he would spin it when Kili's absence came to Thorin's attention, anyway.

"Goodbye, brother. I hope we meet again someday."

With that, Kili was gone, heading to the prearranged meeting point. Tauriel would already be waiting for him.

"Ready?" she asked, standing the moment she caught sight of him, slinging her pack across her shoulders.

"As I'll ever be."

"You don't have to come with me," she reminded him. Kili shook his head, "We're stronger together. Besides, I could never forgive myself for letting such a gorgeous and talented woman as yourself get away."

Tauriel smiled at him, in that magical way he loved, and rolled her eyes, "Uh huh. We should be off. I'm hoping to make Dale by midday, and we can lay low at a tavern for awhile to collect supplies."

"Sounds good to me," Kili shrugged, adjusting his own pack and reaching for her hand. She laughed at the gesture but made no move to stop him.

And that was how they left their childhood homes - hand in hand, following a moonlit path.

~ ~ ~

"Kili, darling, would you mind getting the door?" Tauriel called from within her workshop, "I'm a little indisposed at the moment."

Indisposed was putting it lightly. It had taken them the better part of the year, but eventually they had established a small shop in Bree, selling a combination of functional and aesthetic trinkets. Tauriel's current work involved melting colored glass and dripping it in delicate beads over the edges of leaves that had been dipped in molten gold and silver. So much as a pause in her work and an entire leaf would be ruined.

"On it," Kili called back from wherever he'd been. Probably the kitchen. Both having grown up in royal households, neither elf nor dwarf was particularly adept at cooking, but Kili found himself fascinated by the task. It was like a swordsman realizing the work that went into the smithing of his sword; Kili was enthralled by the steps that went into creating edible (and mouth-watering) feasts.

She listened intently as his recognizable clunking footsteps moved to the door and it creaked open. As much as she strained, though, she was unable to make out the muffled talking.

Suddenly the talking increased in volume and she could hear clear agitation in Kili's voice.

"No! You can't just reappear, demanding rights you cast off yourself! This is our house, and you are not wanted."

Who the - ?

"Stop! I demand you leave at once!"

Then the door to her workshop was thrown open and a voice she hadn't heard in over a year spoke in the same cold, even tone she remembered, "Tauriel, you've had your fun. Now it's time to come home."

She said nothing, didn't even turn around, concentrating on the task at hand. When she finished decorating the leaf in her hand, she placed her tools gently on the table before turning around to face the man who had raised her _almost_ as his own.

"Thranduil. I didn't know you would be coming. You should have sent a note. We could have made dinner," she kept her voice carefully neutral, playing the game his way.

"Don't be foolish, girl," he grimaced, "I have no intention of staying in this... hovel. It is perhaps fit for a dwarf, but not for you and certainly not for me. Now come home."

"I am home," she replied evenly, "If you are referring to the place I lived as a child, I seem to recall being banished."

"Perhaps my decision was hasty. I only intended to impress upon you the error of your ways. Clearly, you were too hot-headed to listen."

Tauriel refrained (barely) from rolling her eyes, "Either way, I have built myself a new life here, one where I am loved and accepted. In Bree, I do not owe anyone, nor are there expectations I must fulfill. Why should I trade that for the life I had in Mirkwood?"

"Don't," Thranduil said with a bit more fire, "Call. It. That. _Greenwood_ is where you belong. It is the place of your people. You held a high position once, you can do it again. How is life as a shopkeeper's wife in a decrepit, _human_ town _possibly_ preferable to that?"

"Like I said. Here I am loved and accepted."

"As you were in Greenwood!"

"By who?" she asked, "Legolas? Because I thought we already had that conversation, besides the fact that I see him more as a brother."

"And he offered you a brother's love, as I offered you a father's," Thranduil replied. This time Tauriel really _did_ roll her eyes, "You? Really?"

"Why else would I have welcomed you into my House?"

"I don't know, Thranduil, because you never told me. And now that I've finally found a place to call my own, _now_ you want to talk about feelings. Because it's yours that matter now, not mine. Well too bad. If you really care, really want to reconcile, then you're going to have to do so long distance. I have no intention of leaving Bree or Kili. That is something you will either have to accept, or you won't. Your acceptance won't change the fact."

Thranduil stared at her, seemingly shaken. She realized that he probably hadn't been told off (and listened, that is) since he was a child. Well it was about time somebody did it, then.

"With that said, you're more than welcome to stay for dinner. I'd offer you the guest room, but you already made it clear that you won't be staying the night. Unless that was also a hasty decision," she added.

He merely nodded, staring at a blank spot on the wall, while she extinguished the fire beneath the glass and swept past him.

"You alright?" Kili was waiting in the hall. Tauriel nodded, "Hopeful, actually. That could have gone much worse."

"I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen."

"It's fine," she assured, "although you may have to put up with him for a few hours if he decides to accept my invitation for dinner."

Kili's face split into a grin, "A challenge. Wonderful."

Tauriel smiled back at him, "I admire your spirit. Always so optimistic. It makes me want to fly."

"And I wish I had your fiery determination. We make a good team."

"That we do," she snickered as he bowed dramatically, pressing a kiss to her hand.

"Together, we can face anything. Even a childish elven king."

"Even what?!"

"It appears Thranduil has found his voice."


End file.
